


Bring On The Monsters

by AuroraKant



Series: Batfam Week2020 [6]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Batfam Week 2020, But still this is not a sad story, Every Character in this Fic is Dead, Flowery Prose, Gen, Mystic Feeling and Setting, Supernatural AU - Freeform, They all die in this, as in they're no longer human AU, more a melancholical one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-13
Updated: 2020-03-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:27:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23130913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuroraKant/pseuds/AuroraKant
Summary: When a child dies, it leaves something behind. A shadow. Something made from the last desire said child felt. And when the shadow learns how to be human, it might prevail.Vengeancewas such a shadow, the desire born from Bruce Wayne's horror at his parents' death.Righteousnesswas another. And so wereStrength, Curiosity, andJoy.It was a different Batman who flew over Gotham at night, but in many ways it was still the same.Day 6: Fluff | Take Your Child to Work Day |Magic/Fantasy AU
Relationships: Cassandra Cain & Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne
Series: Batfam Week2020 [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1657645
Comments: 14
Kudos: 137





	Bring On The Monsters

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! ^^  
> Thanks to all of you who read and enjoy my stories! I love doing this and I hope you enjoy it just as much!  
> This one is my favorite and I hope you like it, especially since it is something a little bit different!  
> I took Fantasy AU to mean any kind of Fantasy I liked, so... Have fun! <3

Sometimes when people died, something else was born.

Sometimes when a child died, something else got left behind. A shadow, the last desire that child had, some remnant of emotion. This shadow had the form and the body of the child that had died, but it was neither human nor a person. And as long as that was the case, the shadow would disperse within days leaving only the dead. But if the shadow learned how to be human, it remained. It thrived. It became more. Most shadows didn’t stay longer than three days, others made sure they would be impossible to lose.

Take for one that night many, many years ago, when the Wayne’s were gunned down. A nameless thug shot Mrs. Wayne in the heart for her pearls, Mr. Wayne in the gut for his chivalry, and little Bruce Wayne in the head for his mere existence. And then reality split. Where one moment there had been the body of a small child, a travesty, was now a shadow dressed in the form a kid. Its name was _Vengeance_.

 _Vengeance_ was not human, it was the embodiment of shadow, the bringer of revenge, the dark thoughts that lurked longer than they had any right to. _Vengeance_ only dressed itself in the form of Bruce Wayne because it had never known anything else.

And then Alfred Pennyworth took it in. It was a shadow, incorporeal if it forgot to concentrate on staying solid, inhuman whenever it spoke or acted or stared. Alfred didn’t care for any of that. _Vengeance_ was all he had left of his Masters and their son, so he would take care of it. And if it sometimes turned into a soulless creature and hunted revenge in the streets of Gotham, so be it.

 _Vengeance_ grew up, it became solid, it became something close to human. It became something close to Bruce Wayne again. But never him. The boy had died in Crime Alley along his parents and _Vengeance_ swore to make sure that Bruce would be the only one to fall. So, what if it claimed Bruce’s name for itself? So, what if humanity seemed more appealing each year? So, what if the Bat took more and more? So, what if _Vengeance_ wanted to become something?

That craved relief came in the form of Richard Grayson, or as it was actually called: _Righteousness_. Brucie – as _Vengeance_ had started calling itself when it left the house in its human form - had attended the circus that night the Grayson’s fell. _Vengeance_ had seen it all: The fall, the tumbling forms of three bodies pluming to their deaths, the littlest one dying on impact only to stand up again. It could see how the shadow wrapped the idea of a little child around itself, could see how Dick Grayson stopped existing and the body of _Righteousness_ came to be. 

_Righteousness_ was different to _Vengeance_. Where _V_ ’s first thought had been the revenge of Bruce’s parents, _Righteousness_ had known that death like the one the Grayson’s had fallen victim to just wasn’t right. And _Righteousness_ would take care of that. The little shadow had seen the Bat in the audience of its creation, and it had known. Known what? That every bit of _Vengeance_ needed _Righteousness_ to justify itself.

“Who are you? What are you? What am I?”

“I am Vengeance”

“Vengeance?”

“Yes, I am Vengeance, the Night, the Bat. And you are…?”

“I… I think, I am Righteousness. Because this isn’t right. They weren’t meant to fall. These people weren’t meant to die…”

“Hn?”

“I am here to make this right”

It didn’t take long for Robin to fly by Batman’s side, both of them dressed in shadows and death, and yet one of them so much brighter. _Righteousness_ grounded _Vengeance_ made sure it didn’t just turn into _Revenge_ , and _Vengeance_ did its best in trying to make _Righteousness_ feel human, even if neither of them were.

And over time _Righteousness_ became more human, just like _V_ had. It stopped thinking only in terms of right and wrong and found itself with a curious nature, a steely resolve, and a joyous laugh. _Righteousness_ found that it liked being Dick Grayson, even if Dick was mortal and temporal and bound to the earthly plane. _Righteousness_ liked becoming Dick during the day and Robin during the night. It liked being a **He**. So, _Righteousness_ did just that: He stopped himself from staying one with the shadow the way _Vengeance_ did. Dick would never be human, he was miles away from being a child or a teenager, he was the embodiment of a dying kids anger at the world, but he could stop himself from not being more.

 _Vengeance_ didn’t like Dick’s choice, it said that _R_ was being foolish, trying to trick itself into being something it was not, but Dick would no longer listen. Where _Righteousness_ had once flown next to _Vengeance_ , it now flew alone.

Dick left, searching for himself, becoming more, becoming _Justice_. Becoming **Nightwing**.

 _Vengeance_ stewed over what had happened between itself and _R_. Maybe _R_ had been right. Maybe their human side was worth exploring. But it wasn’t missing Dick that changed its view. It was the shadow it found one night in the Brewery.

The shadow dressed as a child sat between a container of trash and a broken piece of a fire escape, wearing rags and a hungry expression. It wasn’t old, maybe a day or so, but still Batman felt bad. It hadn’t been fast enough to safe yet another kid. Instead it had to deal with the shadow that was left.

“What if your name?”

“My name is Strength”

“Is that so?”

“My name is Strength because Jason Todd was strong. He survived three years on the streets by himself. He survived his horrible father, his addict mother, hunger, weather, and so much more… Jason Todd was strong… but he wasn’t strong enough…”

“Then come on Strength, I am Vengeance, and I will give you a place to find yourself”

 _Strength_ went with Batman and together they returned home. _Strength_ was different to Dick, more angry and versatile when it came to enacting its shadowy will. It was also human so much faster than either Dick or itself had been. _Strength_ loved Robin and it learned to love school, joking that learning had to be one of its strengths. It wasn’t long before _Vengeance_ stopped dreading their outings as Bruce and Jason. It wasn’t long before _Strength_ asked to be Jason too, instead of just _Strength_. And instead of saying no like it had before, _Vengeance_ contemplated becoming Bruce too. It didn’t. But the bridges started burning.

Jason loved the shadows they embodied and the human nature of things like cooking or drawing or climbing trees. There was something complex in everything they did, and _Vengeance_ loved nothing more than watching Jason choose humanity more throughout than any human could. _V_ loved Dick, too, but neither of them, not even Dick when he chased humanity with the ferocity he sometimes did, could emulate it like Jason did. _Strength_ was at their core more human than both _Vengeance_ and _Righteousness_ were.

So, it came to no surprise that _Strength_ died like a mortal too. Another shadow creature, the Joker, or better the embodiment of _Chaos_ , had tricked Jason by promising them something inherently human: A mother. But neither of them had mothers, they had only last thoughts and desires that birthed them. Nevertheless, _Chaos_ managed to trick _Strength_ , encasing them in a fire so strong no shadow could escape.

 _Vengeance_ was devastated. It had been Jason’s longing for humanity that had cost them their existence – if death could even touch them was still unclear. The only thing _Vengeance_ knew, was that Jason was no more. _Strength_ was gone.

And _Vengeance_ came back with a strong longing for revenge. The problem was, a shadow is malleable, formable, easy to bend. And just as _Righteousness_ was able to become _Justice_ , _Vengeance_ became _Revenge_.

 _Revenge_ took to the streets and Batman with a ferocity previously unknown to man. It left destruction in its wake, laying devastation on those who dared to harm others. _Vengeance_ ’s _Strength_ was gone and the only thing they had left was a need for drastic _Revenge_.

 _Justice_ tried to stop it once, but neither could look each other in the eye. Where _Vengeance_ and _Righteousness_ had fit together, flown together, there burned and chafed _Justice_ and _Revenge_. Their conflict was hard and fast, over before it began, and _Justice_ swore that he would only come again if _Revenge_ came to its senses again. If _Revenge_ went back to being _Vengeance_ or even Bruce Wayne. But _Revenge_ could do neither. 

Instead another shadow found it. It was a small one, once again a child. It looked at _Revenge_ with curious eyes and an assuredness in its step.

“I am Curiosity”

“Go away”

“I am Curiosity and I will be the next Robin”

“No”

“Yes”

“Why?”

“Because Tim Drake died curious, after his parents forgot to tell the housekeeper not to lock the cellar, because Tim Drake was so curious that he figured out that neither Batman nor Robin were human and yet they were his neighbors. Because Batman needs a Robin and Revenge needs to step aside and find its curious side”

“Hn”

 _Curiosity_ joined _Revenge_ , Batman had another Robin, and it didn’t take long for _Vengeance_ to find its place again. After that it wasn’t long until _Justice_ returned to Gotham either, welcoming both his new sibling and his returned father. _Vengeance_ acted as if neither of these things happened. _Justice_ was alright with that. Instead he focused on helping _Curiosity_ find its human side.

It was harder than it should be. _Curiosity_ was like _Vengeance_ , happy in its shadowy self, content in being something else but never belonging. Where _Justice_ strived for humanity and _Strength_ had way too much of it, _Curiosity_ only sometimes grazed it, playing with it as if it were a toy. But luckily _Curiosity_ had something that made humanity something worth achieving: Its very own nature. The concept of humankind managed to transfix _Curiosity_ long enough for humanity to saw its seeds and see them bloom.

And with _Curiosity_ finding hobbies, taking pictures, measuring time, _Vengeance_ started seeing Bruce again in its distorted mirror. _Justice_ knew that neither _Vengeance_ nor _Curiosity_ would ever crave humanity in the same way he did, but he also knew that neither of them was allowed to forget, that before they turned into shadow each of them had been a child. They owed it to the tragedies that birthed them to never forget what being human meant. Even if neither of them was.

 _Curiosity_ thrived when _Anger_ returned. _Anger_ was what had been left of _Strength_ when the magic of the Lazarus Pit was done with them. And _Anger_ wasn’t happy when they saw that Robin still sored over the Gotham sky. And they were even less happy when they saw that _Chaos_ still reigned.

Where _Anger_ and _Chaos_ met, Gotham burned. Where _Anger_ and _Vengeance_ clashed, feelings were hurt. Their shadows encircled each other, taunting and hauling insults. _Strength_ had been human to their core, and _Anger_ was so too, but where _Strength_ had been Jason first, Anger only vaguely remembered being that child. Robin was so much closer to their heart, to their very nature, than the child _Vengeance_ and _Justice_ remembered.

And even when _Curiosity_ couldn’t control itself and searched for _Anger_ , found them and bound them, it couldn’t turn _Anger_ back into _Strength_. Where _Curiosity_ had been enough for _Revenge_ to remember its human side again, it had no chance in doing the same for _Anger_. Maybe because there was not enough left of what _Anger_ had been before.

But still they managed some sort of truce, all four of them, closing their shadowy ranks just in time for Gotham to be laid to waste and for once not by the hands of _Chaos_. It had been the earth herself that had betrayed them, turning Gotham into a No Mans Land and Batman, Nightwing, Robin and the Red Hood into a force to be reckoned with. 

And still their efforts almost weren’t enough, not even with the help of Oracle and Batgirl, humans who had made shadows their domain without dying for it. Instead all of them were saved by a shadow without name. A child, maybe a young teenager in form, which had managed to evade them until it presented itself in front of _Vengeance_.

“What is your name?”

For once it wasn’t a vocal answer _Vengeance_ got, instead the hands of the shadow started talking:

“I am Joy and I am here to help”

“Joy?”

“The girl’s father had trained her and forced her hands without teaching her a word of love. What joy she felt when she denied his wants and died for it. Oh, what terrible, terrible joy”

“What was her name?”

“She didn’t have one and I am Joy”

“Then you are more than welcome to join us”

And that _Joy_ did. It took to the streets and to saving people like a fish took to water or a bird to the sky. But more than anything _Joy_ was a dancer. Its movement fluid, and elegant, and graceful, and full of joyous power the others could only envy. _Joy_ helped saving Gotham and _Vengeance_ gave it humanity.

Faster even than Dick _Joy_ chose to be known as a **She**. She wanted the humanity her pervious life had denied her, and she took it with a ferocity that one could only be proud of. _Joy_ was funny, and she talked with her hands, never being still, never stopping and yet more capable of becoming on with the shadow than maybe even _Vengeance_.

 _Curiosity_ loved her. _Joy_ brought something with her that it had craved. It was in _Curiosity_ ’s nature to get along with _Vengeance_ as they both shared their need for answers, and _Curiosity_ could find itself in _Justice_ , and in _Anger_ , even though _Strength_ would have been a much better fit. But _Joy_? _Curiosity_ and _Joy_ got along like a house on fire. _Joy_ made _Curiosity_ human, where _Curiosity_ had feared to lose itself. _Curiosity_ made _Joy_ more focused, whenever she threatened to get lost in the shadow.

When Dick told _Joy_ that she would need a name for her human appearances on Bruce Wayne’s side, it was _Curiosity_ that sent her to Oracle to find one. And it was the very human Barbara that gave _Joy_ her name: Cassandra. A hero of days bygone. The one to excel, or more importantly: The one to shine.

 _Anger_ could see the deeply human part of her and some part of them hated her for it. Because _Anger_ could remember being _Strength_ , they could remember being so deeply connected to a pure human emotion, one not meant to destroy but one meant to heal. And yet _Anger_ no longer was that pure shadow made out of the strength it took to survive, _Anger_ had become something more, something still so human, but so much more made to hurt. It was no wonder then that _Anger_ and _Joy_ rarely met, both of them knowing that their meetings had a great potential of kinetic energy.

Most surprising however was how deep that connection between _Joy_ and _Vengeance_ went. _Vengeance_ had taken something from each of its children, from each shadow it took on as its own: A clearer sense of morality from _Righteousness_ , a belief in humanity from _Strength_ , an interest in life from _Curiosity_. But it was _Joy_ that brought _Vengeance_ that glimmer of hope that existing could be worth it, could be fun. So, together they danced.

It was a mosaic of shadow, a painting of movement, a sight to behold, but _Joy_ and _Vengeance_ danced across the Gotham sky, unbound by human restrictions, free in their existence as the remanence of children never allowed to grow old. And the others joined their dance from time to time. There would be _Justice_ lighting up the dark sky, or _Curiosity_ flinging itself into the action, choosing new leaps and twists at each turn, there would be _Anger_ circling _Vengeance_ in a fight closer to ballet. It was art, to be seen only by those dressed in shadow and death, or the few lucky ones who had become adapted to seeing the things that weren’t.

The Bats and the Birds never stopped existing, just as Bruce Wayne and his abundance of children still appeared to be photographed and teased and thrown into the public eye, but in the privacy of their own home, in the privacy of the realms only them could attest to, they managed to become the perfect balance between shadow and human. They twisted and turned, _Vengeance_ always playing the edge of _Revenge_ , _Justice_ testing the limits he could go before turning blind, _Curiosity_ edging itself towards _Obsession_ , _Anger_ circling themselves and _Joy_ threatening to lose focus. And yet they never did.

Until Damian Wayne showed up. Human Damian Wayne. A human, alive child. Neither of them knew how to deal with the fragility that came of this kid, an unethical experiment of Talia al’Ghul, but still very, very human. _Justice_ had thought that most of them knew humanity rather well by then, but Damian taught him otherwise. The child was more complex than even _Strength_ had been, and his wishes and fears and hopes changed so much, not even the most adapt to reading people could keep up. And like a harbinger of bad luck, Damian’s existence at the Manor preceded _Vengeance_ ’s death only by a few months.

 _Vengeance_ had been Batman when it went to battle Darkseid and died. Not many things could kill a shadow, especially one as strong as Batman, but if there was something out there that could strike shadows from their existence it was Darkseid. And he did.

 _Vengeance_ was gone. Left was _Justice_ trying to fill the dark shoes Batman had left, _Anger_ burning bright again, and _Curiosity_ unable to stop itself from spiraling and becoming _Obsession_. _Joy_ tried her best to keep them all going, to keep the shadows from consuming them completely, but even she was just one shadow against three, no matter how bright her existence shone.

And _Justice_ had to make a choice. _Obsession_ was not made to be Robin in the same way _Curiosity_ had been, and _Anger_ would no longer bow to anyone. There was only a small human child left and _Justice_ chose _Damian_ as his. _Joy_ stepped away, deciding to go down her own path for Gotham, not binding herself to _Justice_ as she had done with _Vengeance_.

It was a first for all of them, to fly with a human in their midst. They had known Batgirl, of course, both of them, but nothing could prepare them for a Robin who couldn’t just dissolve into smoke. There were trial and errors and in the midst of all that chaos _Obsession_ packed up its bags and left, searching for _Vengeance_ , the only one believing that the mighty giant that had been their father had somehow survived the un-survivable.

It was harder to stay Dick when _Justice_ was what Gotham needed. How horrid then that _Justice_ fought to stay Dick because he knew that a child needed human contact and compassion and not the cold touch of a shadow. And somehow it worked. Robin learned to fly with shadows and Damian learned how to be a child.

 _Anger_ saw themselves in the very nature of Damian and sometimes they allowed themselves to be Jason once again, for the first time in years. It was wonderous. _Justice_ could see how much those two resembled each other even if neither of them would ever be able to follow the other into their own realm. There was a barrier between the living and the shadows and while shadows had to stay human to resist vanishing (or becoming monsters), they could never cross over. Neither could humans. The moment a living being crossed into the land of the shadows it itself would become one of them. And yet Damian and _Anger_ understood each other.

 _Joy_ liked Damian too. She could see his faults and she found joy in all of them. She loved his drawings and his swords, and she bet that the girl Cassandra might have been had she lived would have seen herself in Damian. _Joy_ couldn’t do that, but she could still see the potential. And she tried her best in being to Damian what Cassandra could have been. It worked. At least sometimes. Damian appreciated her, calling her words of reluctant admiration, and _Joy_ could see them dancing across the rooftops one day.

It was _Justice_ that formed an unbreakable bond with the child. Dick could see Damian’s craving for _Justice_ , his need to do the right thing, his want for fairness, all hidden away under a bad temper, anger, and a lost childhood. There was very little _Justice_ could do to right these wrongs, but he could be there to lend his hand if Damian needed it. He would be there to be a shoulder to cry on, should the need be. _Justice_ promised himself to be there for Damian, if the child wanted it or not. Because he loved him. And _Justice_ hadn’t known that he could love like that. That _Justice_ was capable of something so,so human.

Time moved on. _Vengeance_ returned with help from _Obsession_ , taking back Batman and Robin. _Justice_ had nothing against giving the revenge tainted mantle of his mentor/father back, but there was a part of him that hurt when Robin stood next to his father. _Obsession_ came back too, not just helping _Vengeance_ return, but reclaiming its place in Gotham.

It had passed too much time, however, for _Obsession_ to go back to being _Curiosity_. For most of them change could only go in one direction and _Obsession_ had been alone for too long after its change. It missed it sometimes, that feeling of unchartered joy that had once upon a time flooded its veins when opportunities had presented themselves to it. Now there was only a need for more. Always. And just because _Obsession_ was able to remember being carefree once, didn’t mean it would be able to return to it. Instead it tried to make the best out of the situation.

 _Joy_ and _Obsession_ could have great fun together, dancing until they both dissolved into shadows, too tired to stay corporal. _Obsession_ and _Anger_ would hunt down criminals, neither of them stopping, only sometimes egging each other on. _Justice_ and _Obsession_ were a dangerous mix, because they both knew there would be nothing left if they lost themselves in their own natures.

It was Robin that _Obsession_ couldn’t quite grasp because while the rest of them had spent a year learning to speak human, _Obsession_ had been doing the exact opposite; And one thing Damian was, was painstakingly human. They would turn in circles, observing each other, sniffing each other out like a pack of wolves, only to never reach a conclusion. They couldn’t stand each other and yet they were forced to co-exist.

 _Vengeance_ longed for that equilibrium that had existed before it vanished. For the dance all of them had engaged in without the fear that one of them would misstep. But then again change was human, and even if they were restricted in their capability to mold themselves, the world around them was one of humankind and it would change for them and with them, but not without them. So, _Vengeance_ should have seen that coming, should have counted on the inevitable possibility of change. And yet it didn’t. Not that first time and not months later when they fought against Talia and the Herectic.

 _Vengeance_ didn’t know what Talia was able to do, all it knew was that whatever she had done, made it impossible for _Justice_ to get back up again and fight. It made it impossible for _Joy_ to break her hold on one of the clones and for _Obsession_ and _Anger_ to stop starring. It made it impossible for _Vengeance_ to stop what happened next.

Because the only one left standing and able to fight was Robin. Damian. The child in their midst. So, when the Herectic lowered his sword, ready to banish _Justice_ into another realm, it was Damian who stopped the blade with his own body. It was Damian who protected his brother. Who looked at all of them with a look of slight bafflement. Of pain. It was Damian Wayne, Robin, who knelt next to the bound form of _Justice_ slowly bleeding out. It was Damian Wayne that died at the hands of the Herectic, surrounded by family.

It was something else that got back up again.

They knew, of course, that whatever had once been Damian was now something else, wearing Damian’s face and memories, but not his humanity, just as they wore the bodies that birthed them, and still it was a shook to see it themselves. That Damian would leave them. Their one human part. The heart of this thing they called a family. They had just lost a brother, a son. They had just lost yet another part that made them human.

Talia was forgotten when _Vengeance_ took a step towards this being that had once been its son. A being that might be another son in the future. But different. Just different. Never the same. One brother lost, one son dead, another being birthed. _Vengeance_ knelt when it asked:

“What is your name?”

“My name is Protectiveness”

“Oh?”

“Because Damian Wayne died protecting those he loved. Because he was so scared, but he wanted to make sure that these people that cared for him would be alright. Because Damian Wayne was meant to protect”

“You did good, Protectiveness. Welcome to this family”

And _Protectiveness_ went with them.

**Author's Note:**

> For whom it may concern or for those who were confused:  
> Bruce Wayne - Vengeance / Revenge - Does not like to have a Gender. Pfui! No! Go away with that!  
> Dick Grayson - Righteousness / Justice - Does want to have a Gender but does not understand it.  
> Jason Todd - Strength / Anger - Has all the Genders and No they won't give you any.  
> Tim Drake - Curiosity / Obsession - Is so extremely not interested in Gender. Can you drink that? No? Eh.   
> Cassandra Cain - Joy/ ??? - Has claimed her Gender and she will fight you to keep it.  
> Damian Wayne - Protectiveness/ ??? - Will ask you what you are talking about before maiming you while you tried to explain.


End file.
